


Meta - Some Thoughts on Writing 'A Game of Hazard'

by Mab (Mab_Browne)



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Episode Related, Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-07-14
Updated: 2008-07-14
Packaged: 2019-06-13 03:38:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15355395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mab_Browne/pseuds/Mab
Summary: Essentially, this looks at the process of writing one of my Regency Sentinel stories. Chock filled with spoilers if you haven't read 'A Game of Hazard', with sideways thoughts on AU and writing in general.  Slightly edited from its original Live Journal post.  Discusses a slash story.





	Meta - Some Thoughts on Writing 'A Game of Hazard'

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Elaine, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Artifact Storage Room 3](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Artifact_Storage_Room_3) and was moved to the AO3 as part of the Open Doors project in 2018. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are the creator and would like to claim this work, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Artifact Storage Room 3’s collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/artifactstorageroom3/profile).

Firstly, I know ‘A Game of Hazard’ screams for a sequel, preferably one where the guys settle Alicia’s hash, and go to Peru and find Incacha and the temple, and lots of sex and mystic stuff happens. Just don’t hold your breath, right? Because the idea of plotting and researching all of that makes me feel faint. (Edited to say that at this point - July 2008 - I am indeed writing a sequel where they go to Peru and yes the plotting and research are indeed hard work. Further edited as at May 2009 to say that All's Fair is finally completed.)

‘Cards on the Table’ originated from re-reading Georgette Heyer’s book, ‘Faro’s Daughter’. Faro’s a card game for anyone not into Regency romance, as is hazard. Yeah, I’m a punny woman…For some reason, I could see a ‘sentinelised’ version of this story, especially given Blair’s canon involvement with gambling. The parts of the plot where Stephen is attracted to Naomi, and Naomi and Blair ‘encourage’ Stephen’s marriage to Louise and Jim misunderstands their intentions are drawn from similar plot lines in Ms Heyer’s book. I had unholy fun writing it, which won’t be news to anyone on the Live Journal f-list who followed it as I produced instalments.

Not long after, I had the inspiration to write a sequel recreating the situation of canon’s ‘Sentinel Too’ episodes, and put it up for Moonridge to help encourage me to write the jolly thing. I was happy to do that as I had the plot basics fairly clear in my head. Or at least I thought I did, but more on that later.

I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat myself: The Sentinel seems to me to be a uniquely “portable property” in regard to AUs. Many of the qualities and background experiences that define our heroes – Jim’s senses, Blair’s curiosity and intelligence, their occasionally difficult relationships with their parents – aren’t tied to a particular time or milieu. I’ve read stories in ‘The Professionals’ that are set outside of the gritty landscape of 1970’s Britain, and I’ve enjoyed them, but I can’t divorce Bodie and Doyle from their backgrounds with the same ease that I do with Jim and Blair.

I’m rather pleased with how easily Jim and Blair transfer to Regency England. Jim’s unhappy rich kid background and his soldiering experience can go anywhere. His desire to protect (and have order) extends comfortably into the role of a responsible army captain and estate owner. One thing a gentleman of the time had was a valet (and as a soldier, a batman). I could have written an OC for this, but for sentimental reasons, and also to create the resonance of existing canon friendships, I wanted to have one of the series characters. 

Simon was the obvious choice for this, as the keeper of Jim’s secrets in canon, but I felt really uncomfortable putting him into the subordinate role. The valet character’s back story was that he was Jack Pendergrast’s slave/servant and that Jack would have been a colonial officer out of the West Indies. Slavery was still legal in the Indies, although the valet would presumably by default have been manumitted once taken to England, where slavery was no longer legal. (Edited to add that slaves from the West Indies were still property in non-slave owning Britain until the official abolition of slavery in the colonies in 1833.) Which doesn't mean that there weren't former slaves living in England, either manumitted or runaways, before that date.) I found that I couldn’t reverse Simon’s position of authority over Jim. It made me too uncomfortable.

That left Brown, Rafe and Joel Taggart. Brown and Rafe have their fans, but they still tend to be ciphers. Obviously if I’d gone with Rafe the background would be different, but if I was going to have a black man I needed an explanation of his origin as the servant of an upper class English gentleman. Joel’s not much more delineated in his background, but he gets a lot more screen time and I just like him. Also, while he’s a captain, he wasn’t in that uncomfortable position of authority over Jim, plus he had an affable relationship with both Jim and Blair. Perfect.

Blair transfers pretty well too. A man can be a curious, talkative scholar with a weakness for pretty faces and gambling in many a time and place. In canon settings, you can make much or little of Blair’s illegitimacy and Jewish background, but writing them in historical situations they have definite significance. However, I always intended to keep the tone fairly light in ‘CotT’ and so I didn’t do more than gloss over those issues.

One thing I was nervous about was writing in omniscient viewpoint, because you don’t see it very much in TS slash fiction, and I was worried that it might be distracting, plus I hadn’t done it before and I was worried I wasn’t doing it properly. You may imagine me going off to read fanfic and profic that uses the omniscient viewpoint, to check that it looked okay. Yes, I can be neurotic about that sort of thing. But it would have been so much harder to write this if I’d always had to be moving to different story sections to indicate pov changes, and it also seemed the easiest way to place the story in the surrounding community, as it were.

Don’t ask why I had the idea of redoing ‘Sentinel Too’. I don’t know why – well, except for the usual fannish desire to play with an interesting concept. And then I had an idea…why not let Alex/Alicia be the person who had the sentinel knowledge? I loved this idea, and had a lot of fun with it. Can you tell? These stories are set a few years before Richard Burton’s (1821- 1890) birth, so our boys can’t conveniently rely on him for knowledge. I went with the fine old fanon of guides being their own creature and talent, to circumvent that problem. And one day I’ll write a little epilogue to these stories where Burton somehow finds out about or meets Jim and Blair, and thus has his own enthusiasm sparked.

There are various problems with Sentoo. Er, lots and lots of problems. Jim snogging Blair’s murderer on the beach is certainly one of them, and you will find me in the ‘overwhelming sentinel urges’ camp because I like Jim and want him to have plenty of excuses for what’s a pretty shitty thing to do. But oh, the angst…In writing an established relationship story, Jim lusting after Alicia already provides plenty of angst, and so I sort of reversed the order of events. Originally I intended to have Alicia aggravate Jim’s interest in her by way of drugs, somehow cunningly administered, (whence the original intention of the palm licking scene) but I couldn’t work out her motivation for such a thing. Then I ended up with the idea that she would dull her own sentinel urges, and that worked much better.

Despite Alicia being the nasty villainess, I had an odd sympathy for her in her determination to not be overcome by primal urges – but then the consequences for a female sentinel in the days before reliable birth control are long-term; options were available even then for contraception and abortifacients, but they were neither safe nor reliable.

Questions of motivation applied to the sword fight. My motivations were very clear: sword fight; mechanism for drowning Blair; _sword fight_. I was very wedded to it and I was writing the scene where Jim and co are chasing her across the moonlit countryside and it’s all very exciting and then – a cold chill struck me. Why does she hang around to fight Blair instead of leaping onto Black Bess - I mean her horse - and riding away into the night? Oops… 

I left the pc and lay disconsolate upon the sofa, keeping the teen company in watching Babylon 5, (it was the school holidays) and then I realised, silly chook that I was, that Alicia’s horse must have got loose and she had to waste time backtracking. Eureka! I hate plotting, but if you don’t do it all the pretty angst collapses under its own weight, and Elaine and I are agreed this is a Bad Thing…And those of you with thought processes that tend more easily to problem solving may stop smirking, now please...

Lastly, literally so in terms of writing the story, was the subplot of ‘Stephen gets a clue’. Again in CotT I glossed over the legal situation of homosexuality at the time. Shortly before the timeline of CotT there was something of a crackdown on gays, with raids on molly houses and so forth, and some pretty punitive sentences. That’s the historical background. Blair wonders whether Stephen wonders about that lovely dressing gown, and voila! It wasn’t just for the porn, you know. Honest. I intended it all along. Truly.

I did have fun with this, including a tip of the hat to one of the unsuccessful Moonridge bidders, who eventually appeared in the guise of young John Timms.


End file.
